Hand pump having free floating valve



1970 J. D. CLEVENGER ET AL 5 3,

4 1mm) PUMP HAVING FREE FLOATING VALVE Filed April 7, 1969 HAND PUMP HAVING FREE FLOATING VALVE Joel D. Clevenger, Raytown, Asa Pickinpaugh, Kansas City, and Michael A. Waters, Independence, M0., assignors to Cook Chemical Company, Kansas City, Mo., a corporation of Missouri Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 741,509, Julyml), 1968. This application Apr. 7, 1969, Ser. No. 813, 4

Int. Cl. F04h 21/04, 33/00; Golf 11/02 US. Cl. 417-513 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A reciprocable plunger hand pump has a floating sleeve slidable in a barrel and limited in axial movement relative to the plunger by a check valve integral with the sleeve, spaced from the plunger and alternately engageable with spaced valve seats surrounding the plunger. A liquid seal is established when the sleeve is wedged between the barrel and a collar; at the same time, the valve closes liquid inlet orifices in the plunger by engagement with one of the seats. The collar has a skirt adapted to support a cover cap and shiftable to mount container caps of various top thicknesses.

This is a continuation-in-part of our co-pending application Ser. No. 741,509 filed July 1, 1968 and entitled Control Valve for Hand Pumps.

It is an important object of our present invention toprovide a hand pump for liquids which is instantly responsive upon depression of a reciprocable plunger so as to open a check valve, admitting liquid into the tubular plunger and almost instantaneously admitting air to a vent, preventing collapse of the liquid container into which the pump extends.

Another important object of the present invention is to provide a hand pump having a check valve for the reciprocable plunger which is fioatingly carried by the plunger for complete freedom of movement in substantial absence of frictional losses by virtue of disposition of the valve in spaced relationship to the plunger around a reduced diameter portion thereof having liquid inlet orifices therein, the valve being engageable with the plunger only at spaced valve seats surrounding the plunger adjacent the outermost and innermost ends of the inlet orifices.

A further important object of our instant invention is the provision of a hand pump of the aforementioned character which utilizes an outermost marginal end of the pumping piston or sleeve, wedged between the barrel and a collar during non-use such as to form a liquid seal.

Still another important object of the present invention is to provide a hand pump having a novel collar arrangement which includes a skirt attached to the collar through a flexible web such that the skirt serves to frictionally mount a cover cap and permit mounting of container caps of various top wall thicknesses.

Other important objects 'will be made clear or become apparent as the following specification progresses, reference being had to the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view on an enlarged scale of a hand pump having a free floating valve made pursuant to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 1, showing the position of various parts when the plunger is depressed;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 33 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 2.

United States Patent The hand pump illustrated in the drawing has a tubular barrel 10 provided with a liquid receiving port 12 at one end thereof and a plurality of air vents 14 adjacent the opposite end of the barrel 10. A collar 16, initially separate from the barrel 10, extends into the open end of barrel 10 opposite to port 12, terminating in an innermost annular edge 18 outwardly of the air vents 14. Interlooking ribs and grooves 20 between the collar 16 and the barrel 10 serve to attach the collar 16 to the barrel 10.

A tubular plunger 22 extends into the barrel 10 through the collar 16 for reciprocable movement toward and away from the port 12. Plunger 22 has a discharge head 24 exteriorly of the barrel 10 which is in turn provided with a liquid outlet 26, communicating with the outermost open end of the plunger 22 by means of a slot 28 in the head 24.

An invertible sleeve 30 loosely surrounding the plunger 22 within the barrel 10 has a small, external, annular bead 31 in sliding engagement with the barrel 10 during reciprocation of the plunger 22. Sleeve 30 also has a small, annular, external bead 33 wedged between the collar 16 and the barrel 10 to present a liquid seal when the plunger 22 is in its extended position illustrated by 'FIG. 1.

Plunger 22 is provided with an integral closure 34 at its innermost end. A continuous inwardly facing groove 36 of essentially a V-shaped nature formed in the inner end of plunger 22 therearound presents one of a pair of seats for a continuous, frusto-conical band or valve 38 integral with the sleeve 30 therewithin, band 38 having a first continuous, annular edge 40 spaced from the sleeve 30, such edge 40 engaging within the groove 36 when the plunger 22 is in the position illustrated by FIG. 2.

Plunger 22 is also provided with a continuous protuberance 42 therearound within the sleeve 30 between the closure 34 and the groove 36. Band 38 is provided with a second continuous, free, annular edge 44 spaced from the sleeve 30 and parallel with the first edge 40 thereof in facing relationship to the protuberance 42. The edge 44 engages the protuberance 42 when the plunger 22 is in the extended position shown in FIG. 1, presenting a second seat for the valve or band 38.

Plunger 22 is also provided with a reduced diameter portion 46 within the sleeve 30 between the groove 36 and the protuberance 42, portion 46 in turn being provided with a plurality of liquid inlet orifices 48 therearound in the nature of elongated slots extending longitudinally of the plunger 22.

It is particularly noteworthy at this juncture that the band 38 surrounds the reduced diameter portion 46 between groove 36 and protuberance 42 but spaced entirely from the portion 46 such as to engage the plunger 22 only in groove 36 and at protuberance 42 through edges 40 and 44 respectively of the band 38. Moreover, as noted in FIG. 1, the groove 36 is axially spaced from the edge 40 only slightly. Therefore, during initial depression of plunger 22, groove 36 immediately wedges into position receiving edge 40 of band 38, shifting the sleeve 30 inwardly and theerby instantaneously admitting air to vents 14 as the bead 33 of sleeve 30 slips from between the collar 16 and the barrel 10, breaking the liquid seal. The delay in passage of air to vents 14 is therefore so inconsequential that all collapse of liquid container 32 is avoided during the pumping operation.

A ball check valve 50 in the barrel 10 at port 12 prevents flow of liquid from the barrel 10 through the ports 12 during depression of the plunger 22 and permits flow of liquid from the liquid container 32 into barrel 10 through dip tube 52 and port 12 during extension of the plunger 22. A spring 54 in the barrel 10 between the plunger 22 and the port 12 yieldably maintains plunger 22 extended. One end of the spring 54 surrounds the closure 34 and engages a continuous ledge 56 around the plunger 22 and spaced from the protuberance 42 in facing relationship to the port 12.

Collar 16 has a continuous radial bushing 58 therewithin loosely receiving the plunger 22 and spaced outwardly of the edge 18. Plunger 22 is provided with a continuous V-shaped annular boss 60 around the groove 36 within the sleeve 30 inwardly of the edge 18 and wedged within a generally V-shaped groove 61, as shown in FIG. 2, during inward movement of the plunger 22 to press the beads 31 and 33 firmly against the barrel 10.

Collar 16 is also provided with a continuous integral web 64 surrounding the plunger 22 exteriorly of the barrel 10, together with a cylindrical skirt 66 integral with the web 64 and terminating in an annular edge 68. Skirt 66 surrounds the barrel and is spaced therefrom in concentric relationship thereto. Barrel 10 has an outturned flange 70 therearound disposed to present a space between the flange 70 and the edge 68 for receiving top 63 of a cap 65 for container 32, the cap 65 in turn receiving the flange 70 therewithin. The web 64 is flexible, permitting the skirt 66 to shift toward and away from the flange 70 whereby to accommodate container cap tops 63 of various thicknesses in the space between edge 68 and flange 70. A cover cap 72 enclosing the plunger 22, as well as the head 24, surrounds and frictionally engages the skirt 66.

During storage, shipment, and periods of non-use, the spring 54 holds the plunger 22 extended such as to close the orifices 48 by virtue of protuberance 42 engaging the edge 44 of valve 38. At the same time, the spring 54, through protuberance 42 and edge 44, holds the bead 33 of the sleeve 30 wedged between the collar 16 and the barrel 10, closing the air vents 14.

The pump is placed in use after removal of the cover cap 72, and during initial inward movement of plunger 22 against the action of spring 54 the groove 36 moves into wedging relationship to the edge 40 as the boss 60 wedges into groove 61, opening the orifices 48 such that liquid in the barrel 10 between sleeve 30 and valve 50 may enter the plunger 22 circumferentially of the plunger portion 46 along the edge 44 of valve 38. The valve 38 then instantaneously imparts inward movement to the sleeve 30, withdrawing its bead 33 from between collar 16 and barrel 10, breaking the liquid seal and admitting air to vents 14. Continued downward movement of the plunger 22 maintains the valve 50 closed, causing flow of the liquid from the barrel 10 into the plunger 22.

Upon release of plunger 22, spring 54 returns it to its extended position, the first action being movement of protuberance 42 into engagement with edge 44, closing the orifices 48 and preventing flow of liquid from the plunger 22 into the barrel 10 during outward movement of plunger 22. Such stroke of the plunger 22 to its extended position forces the liquid from the plunger 22 through the outlet 26. At the same time, the valve 50 opens for flow of liquid from dip tube 52 through port 12 into barrel 10. The only sliding interengagement of parts during pumping is between sleeve 30 and barrel 10, and valve 38 never engages plunger portion 46.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a hand pump:

a tubular barrel having a liquid receiving port at one end thereof and an air vent adjacent its opposite end;

a collar separate from and extending into the barrel through said opposite end thereof, terminating outwardly of the air vent;

means attaching the collar to the barrel;

a tubular plunger extending into the barrel through said collar and reciprocable toward and away from said port;

said plunger having a liquid outlet exteriorly of the barrel;

a sleeve loosely surrounding the plunger within the barrel and having a part slidably engaging the latter during reciprocation of the plunger;

said sleeve having parts wedged between the collar and the barrel when the latter is extended to the outermost end of its path of travel, presenting a liquid seal;

said plunger having an integral closure at its innermost end, a continuous, inwardly facing seat therearound within the sleeve, a continuous protuberance therearound within the sleeve between the closure and the shoulder, and a reduced diameter portion within the sleeve between the seat and the protuberance;

said portion having a plurality of liquid inlet orifices therearound; and

a continuous, frusto-conical band integral with the sleeve therewithin, surrounding said portion, and spaced entirely therefrom between the seat and the protuberance;

said band having a first continuous, annular edge adjacent the sleeve and facing said seat, and a second continuous, free, annular edge spaced from the sleeve and from said portion, parallel with said first edge and facing said protuberance;

said seat being axially spaced slightly from said first edge, and said protuberance engaging said second edge to close the orifices when the plunger is extended;

said seat being disposed to move into engagement with the first edge of the band upon slight inward depression of the plunger, whereby to shift said sleeve parts from between the collar and barrel, breaking said seal and admitting air to said vent immediately after opening of said orifices by movement of the protuberance away from said second edge of the band;

there being an annular groove between the sleeve and the band;

said plunger having a boss wedged into the groove during depression of the plunger.

2. The invention of claim 1;

said seat being a continuous groove;

said first edge wedging into the last-mentioned groove during depression of the plunger.

WILLIAM L. FREEH, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

